1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which performs printing with a UV-curable ink curable by the ultraviolet light.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an ink-jet printer, which uses a UV-curable ink that is curable by the ultraviolet light, has been suggested. For example, in the case of an ink-jet printer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,783,227 (corresponding to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-314304), the UV-curable ink is discharged from an ink-jet head toward a recording objective member, the ultraviolet light is irradiated from a UV light source disposed adjacently to the ink-jet head toward ink droplets landed on the recording objective member, and thus the UV-curable ink is cured and secured onto the recording objective member. When the UV-curable ink is used as described above, the following advantage is obtained. That is, the printing can be also performed, for example, on the resin and the metal other than the paper, and the water resistance is satisfactory as well. A printed matter having glossiness is obtained.
From another viewpoint, in the case of the ink-jet printer, when the ink is adhered to the nozzle surface of the ink-jet head, then the nozzles are clogged, and pixels, on which any ink is not adhered, appear on the recording medium. Accordingly, the image quality is deteriorated in some cases. In view of the above, an ink-jet printer has been already provided, which is provided with a wiper mechanism which wipes the ink adhered to the nozzle surface of the ink-jet head. The operation of the wiper mechanism is, for example, as follows. That is, in a certain type thereof, a wiper member is moved in parallel to the ink-jet head which is stopped so that the nozzle surface is wiped. In another type thereof, a wiper, which stands still, protrudes when the ink-jet head is moved so that the nozzle surface is wiped.
However, if any wiper mechanism is introduced into the ink-jet printer described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,783,227, after the wiper is separated from the end of the nozzle surface, the wiper is positioned in the vicinity of the UV light source disposed adjacently to the ink-jet head. Therefore, it is feared that the UV-curable ink may be adhered to the light-outgoing surface of the UV light source. In this situation, when the ultraviolet light is irradiated from the UV light source after the completion of the wiping operation, the UV-curable ink, which is adhered to the light-outgoing surface of the UV light source, is immediately cured. Therefore, the ultraviolet light cannot be irradiated uniformly from the UV light source, and the printing quality is deteriorated.